The scope of the present study was to investigate how the p-coumaric (p-CA) and p-hydroxybenzoic (p-HD) acids affect the peroxidase (POD, EC 1.11.1.7) activity, the lipid peroxidation (LP) and the root growth of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.). Three-day-old seedlings were cultivated in nutrient solution containing p-CA or p-HD (0.1 to 1 mM) for 48 h. After uptake, both compounds (at 0.5 and 1 mM) decreased root length (RL), fresh weight (FW) and dry weight (DW